Middleton Building Supply of Dover and Hampton is taking a progressive step forward from green business to green advocacy. Recently they joined forces with Tim Gaudreau, a Portsmouth-based Eco-Artist and Karina Quintans to aid in their Zero-Waste initiative in Portsmouth. The idea behind this project is to dramatically reduce the amount of waste dumped into Rochester’s Turnkey landfill. The project would place artistically designed bins around Portsmouth for recycling and composting.

Middleton’s role in this task is integral. They are collecting donations from building materials suppliers as well as providing lumber from their own yard. Moisture Shield is one noteworthy vendor that has made a large donation to the project. In addition to materials, Middleton is providing all transportation for the project; a substantial contribution as this entails trucks, cranes, forklifts, and manpower to construct and carry containers between 500 and 600 pounds to their appropriate locations. “We first were introduced to this project through our partnership with the Green Alliance – they brought the Zero-Waste folks to a Green Alliance Business Partner meeting and encouraged some of the businesses to get involved and we could see right away the synergy between our company and this worthy effort,” says Middleton Manager Andy Carberry. “We are really working to offer more green options in our stores and collaborating with such a group on a very visible project such as this one was a perfect fit. We knew we had a lot to contribute in terms of materials and equipment.”
 

Environmental artist Tim Gaudreau who runs Tim Gaudreau Studios will be working with local students to design the artwork for the bins. “We recognized an opportunity to take it beyond sustainability and to create a space for artwork,” explains Gaudreau. These are appropriate words for the eco-artist who created “Self Portrait as Revealed by Trash”, an exhibition piece which is a collage of images illustrating all the items of trash that Gaudreau himself generated over the course of a year.

Gaudreau, Quintans and Carberry are working diligently to create and distribute the bins. Their project will be totally complete by the end of the summer. The bins will reflect student creativity and add to the overall intrinsic value of Portsmouth. Zero Waste will make it possible for visitors of downtown Portsmouth to publically recycle for the first time ever. The overall goal of this eco-venture is to drastically reduce the landfill waste generated in the Seacoast area; not just from visitors that use the recycling stations downtown but also to educate and advocate responsible waste disposal at home and work.

For more info on Middleton Building Supply visit www.retail.lavalleys.net

For more info on Tim Gaudreau see www.wake-up.ws

For more info on the Zero Waste project go to www.blogs.seacoastonline.com/zeroing-in-on-waste

For more info on the Green Alliance visit www.greenalliance.biz